Jonathan Good, better known as Dean Ambrose in the WWE or Jon Moxley on the independent circuit, had an interesting upbringing that brought him to where he is today. Born in Cincinnati, Ohio he was often in need to defend himself or his well being as he grew up in one of the more dangerous parts of the city. Growing up with the attitude of being an outlaw, on his own and independent in life, Good was quickly drawn to wrestling, citing Bret Hart as one of his idols as he also was faced with the challenge of being the underdog but ultimately came out on top with skill and heart. Being more and more obsessed with the industry, he instantly fell in love with the original ECW and their style and was shortly thereafter scoping for opportunities to become part of the business himself. As Moxley was still a teenager at the time, he was denied to begin practice by his future trainer and mentor Les Thatcher but would eventually return to train under him as well as Cody Hawk before debuting for HWA in 2004.

His rise in the promotion came quickly as he was not only able to secure the tag team titles alongside Jimmy Turner shortly after his debut but also won the HWA heavyweight title a total of three times, the first reign making him the youngest champion in the promotions history at only 20 years of age. He also went on to regain the tag titles for a total of five runs. During his run with his mentors league, he also made multiple appearances in WWE and Ring of Honor dark matches as well as numerous fights in Chikara. Moxley stated in interviews that he, unlike most of his fellow wrestlers was not interested in becoming a part of World Wrestling Entertainment, citing the background behavior and mentality as reasons. Good would still continue his run with HWA for a while but also went on to become an important part of the IPW, FIP and CZW roster, winning all the promotions heavyweight title belts on multiple occasions and being a prominent member in multiple tournaments as well as signature stipulation matches in the latter named organization. Though he would not be able to garner any title success, Moxley also became a prominent part of Dragongate USA, feuding with Tommy Dreamer and Jimmy Jacobs among others.

After playing his part in many prominent independent organizations, Jon would eventually make his way to the majors after signing a deal with the WWE in April of 2011. His debut for the company shortly thereafter with the new name Dean Ambrose also started a feud with fellow independent wrestler Seth Rollins (known as Tyler Black outside of the WWE) as he called out the the then-FCW 15-champion in his first appearance for the Florida promotion. Their feud became a prominent part of the television show as they went to a draw in three subsequent iron man title matches, the first two without a pinfall in the match, while the last one ended in sudden death overtime with the champion retaining. Playing a heel during his entire run in FCW, Ambrose would also started to call out the entire FCW locker room for being afraid to face him and made his first strides against visiting WWE stars CM Punk and William Regal in losing but contending efforts.

Good made his WWE main-show debut at the PPV Survivor Series 2012 alongside former rival Seth Rollins and Roman Reigns as The Shield, often being the mic-man of the crew. The team attacked Ryback in their first appearance in favor of then-champion CM Punk, citing the fight against injustice in the organization as a reason. They would continue to interfere in several matches and altercations in favor of the title holder and would win their first official match at TLC 2012, defeating Ryback and Team Hell No. Though the stable continued to deny working for the WWE champion, it was later revealed that they were indeed hired to act in favor of CM Punk. The Shield went on to feud with top-tier superstars, always succeeding in numerous tag team matches over former champions like Sheamus, Randy Orton, John Cena and Kane among others. Ambrose also made his singles debut, though in a losing effort against the Undertaker. After feuding with the tag team champions Team Hell No as well as the reigning US champion Kofi Kingston, the team split up to challenge for both titles at Extreme Rules 2013. After Rollins and Reigns secured the tag team belts, Dean Ambrose was also able to win his first singles title in defeating the title holder. As the singles wrestler, he would still be assisted by his team mates in several matches, helping him to retain the titles on multiple occasions. Good was also involved in the Money in the Bank match at the similarly named PPV but was unsuccessful in his trials even with help from his stable.